Trudeau seems to prefer surrounding himself with people who are obedient to him or fulfill some political agenda, rather than being truly competent. Consider that Jane Philpott could have been our health minister right now instead of Patty Hajdu.
Governor General is probably one of the toughest jobs to screw up.
You have a staff that does all the real work.
You show up to some events, say some nice platitudes, and move on.
If you have bad luck, you may need to make one controversial decision over whether to let a government push for an election or let the opposition unite to take power, but that rarely happens.
You read out the Throne Speech, which is entirely written by somebody else.
Basically, it’s impossible to mess it up.
Yet, Julie Payette did exactly that.
And the warning signs were there, with concerns about Payette being expressed at previous workplaces, and questions about her character and judgement having been raised – and clearly ignored – by the Trudeau government.
But this isn’t really about Julie Payette, it’s about Justin Trudeau.
He is the one who appointed her.
He is the one who ignored the warning signs.
And he is the one who bypassed the usual vetting process.
Clearly, he wanted a celebrity, and he wanted a ‘big name,’ and cut corners to get it.
Unfortunately for Canada, this isn’t the first example of Trudeau’s questionable judgement when it comes to who he appoints and removes.
Consider the treatment of Judy Wilson-Raybould, who was appointed to be a strong voice, and then was booted by Trudeau because she actually had principles.
Trudeau’s opposition to Wilson-Raybould’s sense of ethics ended up leading to him also booting out Jane Philpott.
Since the Wuhan Virus pandemic began, Philpott has been working on the frontlines to save lives.
Meanwhile, Patty Hajdu has been health minister, making one error after another, reversing her advice repeatedly, and generally just seeming completely in over her head.
Canada could have had Jane Philpott as our health minister right now, but instead we have someone far less qualified.
This is what happens when ‘leaders’ value slavish obedience, rather than independent thinking and competence. We end up with people who are skilled only at playing politics, rather than governing and managing.
It’s perhaps the biggest flaw of Trudeau’s ‘leadership,’ and it’s also increasingly seen in leaders across the political spectrum, who seem to think that being a strong leader requires punishing anyone who disagrees with them, instead of recognizing that true strength means being open to other perspectives and having the capability to integrate those views into a coherent whole.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
